But I'm A Hufflepuff
by LordSadLampshade
Summary: Aaron Hemingway is a Hufflepuff who has no idea what he wants to do when he leaves school. When Cedric Diggory dies a brutal death during the Triwizard Tournament, Aaron begins to question himself, his house and his friends. Together with his three best friends, Aaron desperately tries to find himself again as the school years slip by and he grows closer to graduation.
1. Chapter 1

Aaron's essay was due in two hours, and he hadn't even started it yet.

To be fair, he'd jotted down a few notes about his three-page Herbology essay the night before, but presently he was stuck on the first sentence.

Sighing, Aaron glanced at the clock in the library again, willing the magical hands to stop moving or something. When they continued to tick, he groaned and rested his head against the open herbology book at his desk.

"Aaron, are you having some trouble?"

It was Dean, one of Aaron's friends. The Slytherin sat himself down next to Aaron and lifted a pile of books onto the desk.

"My essay is due in two hours," the Hufflepuff complained, pointing at his blank page. Dean rolled his eyes.

"I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be hard working."

Aaron flipped him off. "Shut up. There was a quidditch match on, okay? And _he_ was playing."

The corner of Dean's mouth twitched. " _God_ , you're such a hopeless romantic."

Aaron pushed his friend jokingly. "Whatever. Are you gonna help me or not?"

"Of course. That's what friends do. But," Dean wagged a finger, "just this once, Hemingway. I'm not doing all your assignments."

"Thank you so much, Dean!" Aaron relaxed slightly as his friend began to pour over his Herbology book, occasionally scrawling notes in his spidery handwriting. Within ten minutes he'd written nearly a quarter of the essay.

Aaron felt a pang of jealousy— Dean was almost top in their year, right behind Hermione Granger. For a Slytherin, this was uncommon, as the Hufflepuffs or the Ravenclaws were usually the ones who got the high grades.

While Dean wrote up the Herbology essay, Aaron flipped open one of his friend's books. This one was about wizard politics— the structure of the Ministry, wizard and witch voting rights, laws and punishments.

"Still want to be the Minster of Magic, huh?" Aaron said. Dean nodded.

"I can do it. If I study hard enough and become friends with the right people."

"You how much of a Slytherin you are, right?"

"Very much so. There's a reason I got sorted into that house." Dean was not a particularly humorous person and Aaron's jab fell on deaf ears. "Anyway, I'm finished with your essay." Dean handed over the three pages of parchment. "You better not forget to do it a second time, because if you do you'll have to get Cecilia to do it for you."

Aaron laughed. "She'd probably make paper aeroplanes out of the paper and enchant them to fly into Flitwick's head or something."

The bell tolled, making Aaron and Dean jump. They both stood from their seats and collected their books, reading to head off to their morning class, Herbology. Aaron was a little worried that Professor Sprout would notice Dean's handwriting, but he'd rather get a detention and have the essay completed then hand in nothing.

Cecilia and Dean's cousin, Gabriel, were waiting for them at the doors to the greenhouse. Cecilia crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Took you two lovebirds long enough. Gabe and I were planning to send out a search party."

Dean's face turned red and he pushed past Cecilia roughly, ducking his head as he hurried into class.

Cecilia and Gabe laughed, and the former shook her head. "He's too serious, that one. Gabe should knock some jokes into him."

"We're not even in the same _house_ ," Gabe argued as the trio entered, running over to Dean so they could sit beside him. The seats in the greenhouse smelled like dirt and the cushions had holes where the springs protruded, so the fourth-years had to manoeuvre themselves into odd positions to be comfortable.

Aaron felt out-of-place among two Slytherins and a Ravenclaw. He saw Harry Potter, the Chosen One or whatever they were calling him these days, and his gang, across the room. Draco Malfoy was a few seats down, trying to start a conversation with Dean but failing, because the latter boy was still finishing some gap notes from one of his other classes.

"Alright, students!" Professor Sprout entered with her gardening gloves off, which meant she was collecting papers. Aaron felt sweat trickle down his brow as he handed his essay up to his teacher. It wasn't just because the room was so humid.

Sprout glanced at the writing, then back at Aaron. She raised an eyebrow and Aaron smiled nervously.

After a few more seconds, Sprout continued on, and Aaron exhaled, releasing his grip on his seat. He spotted Dean down the line and they made eye contact for a brief second. Dean nodded, face expressionless so as not to attract attention, and Aaron mouthed, "Thank you," at his friend. The Slytherin shrugged and mouthed back, "No problem."

* * *

The class progressed uneventfully, and before Aaron knew it he was picking up his quill and parchment and heading off to his next class, Muggle Studies. He hadn't wanted to take the elective, but it was part of the deal he made with his dad. If he didn't take Muggle Studies, he'd be out of Hogwarts faster than he could say expelliarmus.

Most of Muggle Studies was spent relearning things Aaron already knew. As a half-blood, his father was a Muggle and most of his life, Aaron had been taught everything about his father's world and nothing about his mother's. It took a lot of convincing to let him go to Hogwarts, and even that was two years late. Muggle Studies was like a repeat of his entire life.

He'd been told a few times that he was top in the class, but that wasn't exactly an achievement, especially in the eyes of his pureblood friends. Aaron preferred to keep that information private.

There were only eight other students in the class, out of the entire year. Aaron didn't know any of them, but none were in Slytherin and only two were from the Ravenclaw. The rest were a scattering of Hufflepuffs, like him, and Gryffindors.

Professor Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher, was absent that day, so Professor Flitwick had been asked to substitute the class. Aaron smiled at the comment he'd made regarding Cecilia and Flitwick earlier.

The class was mostly spent writing notes and reading from textbooks, but Aaron didn't mind. At the end of the class he handed in his book and parchments and left without a word, trying to get out of the class first so he wouldn't have to face the crowds in the corridor.

Unfortunately, Muggle Studies had run later than Aaron had expected, and the hallway outside the classroom was jam-packed with students. A lot of them snickered as the Muggle Studies kids filed out of their class. One Slytherin yelled something about 'mudbloods' and ran off cackling.

Aaron kept his head down and his mouth shut as he headed off to Great Hall for lunch. Luckily, neither Herbology nor Muggle Studies had homework, and he hoped his double Divination didn't yield any either.

On the way to the Hall, Aaron met up with Cecilia and Dean on the staircase, and they walked together to lunch.

Aaron sat down at the Hufflepuff table, and grabbed some food from the many plates in front of him. A girl on his left had her books and parchments spread all over the tabletop and her elbow kept bumping his own, but he didn't care because Cedric Diggory was sitting eight seats down.

Cedric was Hufflepuff's seeker on the quidditch team, a prefect and Aaron's crush. His friends loved to tease him about it, and faked fainting in the corridors or on the staircases whenever Cedric walked past.

The older boy was talking animatedly to another prefect about the Triwizard Tournament, a competition Aaron had learned was being played again for the first time in a few centuries. From the way Cedric was gesturing, Aaron guessed he was going to enter the Tournament, or at least find a way to be involved.

Aaron briefly wondered if he could compete, then banished the thought. He wasn't unfit, exactly, but he was horrendous at quidditch despite his impromptu obsession, and made a conscious effort to avoid physical activity when he could. He would be eliminated in the first round, even before.

"Hey, new kid. Hemingway," Cedric called. Aaron's heart flew into his throat and for a moment he forgot how to speak.

"Um…"

"Hey, Cedric, don't ask him. He's only been here for a year," one of Diggory's friends chided. Aaron felt his cheeks grow hot and he mumbled, "Nah, it's ok. What is it?"

"What do you think of Harry Potter?"

"Harry Potter?"

" _The Chosen One_?" Cedric looked incredulous. "He's in your year, Hemingway. Thought you might have been paying attention instead of frolicking around with your boyfriend in Slytherin."

The Hufflepuff table burst into fits of giggles. Aaron glared down at his plate. "He's alright. Potter."

Cedric grew serious again, realising he'd wounded the younger boy's pride. "Okay, cool. I was just wondering. A group of us don't really like him that much, since he gets so much attention and stuff. We wanted to know what the people in his year thought."

"Oh. Okay." Aaron sunk lower in his seat, picking at a slice of cake. He suddenly was looking forward to double Divination and wished he could disappear into one of those glass orbs Professor Trelawney kept around the classroom.

Cedric got up from his seat and clapped Aaron on the back, making the younger Hufflepuff jump. "Don't worry about it, Aaron. See you later."

"See you."

* * *

Aaron flopped down on his bed, throwing his books and quill under it and groaning into his pillow. He had nearly an hour until dinner in the Great Hall, so he thought he would kill some time with Dean, Cecilia and Gabe after he dropped off his school supplies in his dormitory.

He could smell the food from the kitchens wafting up through the floor. It made Aaron's mouth water.

Making sure his wand was in his pocket and his uniform was hung up on its coat hanger, he bounded out of his dorm room and through the common room doors, making his way down the staircases to the dungeons, where the Slytherins' common room was.

Gabe and Dean were waiting for him outside. They explained that Cecilia got detention in Arithmancy for passing a rude poem about some of the teachers at Hogwarts in class, so she was unable to hang out with them until tomorrow. They showed Aaron the poem, and he lost it at _a rare species of animal lives in Snape's nose/ though how he grew it to that size, nobody knows_. Dean rolled his eyes and muttered, "Typical of her," but Aaron saw his mouth twitch a few times, which Dean disguised as a yawn.

Gabe, on the other hand, had tears streaming down his cheeks and began to read the poem out loud in his impression of Professor Snape's voice. This involved pinching his nose and standing on his tip-toes to look more menacing, which wasn't hard, considering he was nearly six feet tall.

"We should go to the Astronomy Tower," Gabe declared when he'd finished his little performance. Dean agreed, but Aaron was less keen. He was terrified of heights and the Astronomy Tower just made him nauseous and sweaty. But Gabe and Dean insisted and Aaron, not wanting to refuse, agreed to go and throw bits of paper down at the students or something. If they were lucky, they might even get a visit from their owls, so the three boys took some food in their pockets to feed their pets when they got to the Tower.

As the trio climbed the steps of the Tower, Aaron thought about what Cedric had been talking about earlier. Was he really going to enter the Triwizard Tournament? Aaron didn't know much about the Tournament, but it sounded dangerous— maybe even life-threatening. And if they were reviving it for the first time in a few hundred years, all manner of things could go wrong.

"Dean?" Dean turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"What happens in the Triwizard Tournament?" Aaron asked. They'd come to a stop near the top of the Tower, and just looking down at the stairs below him made Aaron want to vomit. He was trying to distract himself.

Dean shrugged. "I don't know if this is all true, but I heard that there are three challenges, and three contestants. During each challenge, one contestant can be eliminated, but it's not compulsory. The goal is to survive through all three challenges and collect the Triwizard Cup at the end, which is hidden in the last challenge."

"What kind of challenges are there?"

Gabe piped up this time. "In the past, there have been dragons, broomstick flying, underwater activities, spell casting and duelling, all sorts of stuff. It changes every time, and sometimes the contestants even have to do mini-challenges to find out what the next big challenge will be."

"Why do you want to know all of this?" Dean asked Aaron, climbing the remainder of the Astronomy Tower steps. "Thinking of entering?"

" _God_ , no," Aaron said quickly, shaking his head. "I'd be wasted before it even started."

"True," Gabe laughed, giving his friend a playful shove. "Hey, is that Satan?"

'Satan' was Gabe's tiny owl. The bird was one of the most antisocial creatures Aaron had ever met, and it bit anyone who came close, including Gabe on some occasions. As a joke, after he'd learnt about Muggle belief systems in a class last year, Gabe named the bird Satan. The joke stuck.

"Rose is here, too! And look, Aaron, it's your one, Roger," Dean called from the top of the Tower.

Roger screeched, and Aaron grinned, forgetting his fear of heights temporarily. He ran up the rest of the stairs and his owl flapped over to him, landed on his shoulder and shrieked in his ear.

"Ouch! _Jeez_ , Roger, be quiet! You're going to make me deaf." Aaron pulled out some of the owl food he'd taken from his room, and Roger inhaled it, pecking at his hand for more treats.

Rose, Dean's huge grey owl, was chasing Satan around the Tower. Satan was screeching and feathers were going everywhere, but the smaller owl was fast as well as rude, and it had no trouble escaping Rose's claws. Dean was chasing after the two of them, desperately trying to grab his own owl, but Rose managed to elude her master despite her size. Dean cursed when Satan decided to take a dump on his head. He wiped the bird poop off with his sleeve and flipped off Gabe's pet.

All this was happening while Gabe and Aaron gazed over the edge of the Tower. Aaron shrunk back a little, but Gabe went right to the edge and looked down.

"Imagine if someone fell down here! Do you think they'd survive?"

Aaron shook his head. "I doubt it. It's got to be at least fifty metres up here. You'd die from that."

Gabe grinned. "It's more than that. Based on our altitude, I'd say sixty or even seventy."

"Stop making me look stupid."

"I'm a Ravenclaw. It's my job."

Dean had finally caught Rose, and Satan squawked and flew away with Roger. The Slytherin threw his owl a handful of treats before carrying her over to the edge of the Tower and dropping her over the side. Rose cawed in surprise, then spread her wings and swooped over the other towers of Hogwarts, vanishing into the fading light.

"We should get to the Great Hall," Dean said, picking at his sleeve to make sure the rest of the bird dung was gone, "otherwise we'll be late."

The three boys hurried down the stairs and along the corridor, following the smells of food and raucous laughter. They reached the Great Hall just as the food appeared on the tables. Cecilia, who was seated at the Slytherin table already, waved at the boys and welcomed Dean over. Gabe headed off to the Ravenclaw table, while Aaron walked in the opposite direction to Hufflepuff, quickly, before all the good food was gone.

He sat next to the girl with the papers and books from earlier, and she smiled at him. She wore a prefect badge and looked around seventeen or eighteen.

"I'm Grace," the girl said in an American accent. Aaron noticed that she was wearing braces.

"Aaron Hemingway. Like the author."

"I know who you are," Grace told him, grabbing two sausages from a plate in front of her, "you're the one who came in at the start of last year. The one with the crazy Muggle dad. Don't be offended," she said quickly as Aaron's jaw tightened, "both of my parents are Muggles. My dad's so embarrassing sometimes. Parents always are."

Aaron also decided to grab a sausage. He piled his plate high with other tasty foods, too. "This your last year?" He asked Grace between mouthfuls. She grimaced. "Yeah, unfortunately. I want to work in the Ministry, but you know how they are with Muggle-borns. I'll have to do an internship for at least three or four years, if they even accept me at all."

"My dad wants me to come back to his place and study to be an engineer," Aaron explained.

"What do _you_ want to do, though?" Grace asked. Aaron shrugged.

"Dunno. All of my friends are doing different things. Their parents have already made up their mind for them, or they've known since they were little or something. I have no idea, and my dad's not helping."

"Well, maybe you'll find a subject here that you want to take further when you leave Hogwarts," Grace reasoned, pointing at Aaron with her fork. "You seem like a smart kid. You'll do fine."

"I guess."

" _You'll do fine_ ," Grace repeated, more sternly.

By this time, dinner was nearly over, and a lot of students were getting up from their seats to talk to their friends or were fidgeting.

However, Professor Dumbledore stood from his seat, and the hall went silent, with the students quickly sitting down whatever house table they were nearest to.

"Students," he said loudly, "as you may or may not know, the Triwizard Tournament approaches. Soon, two other schools will arrive as Hogwarts to compete with us during this time."

The students chittered excitedly. Aaron saw Cedric and his friends elbowing each other and exchanging glances.

"The two schools are Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute."

The older kids whispered among themselves— clearly, they knew people from both schools and were anxious to compete against them in the Tournament. Aaron was beginning to feel nervous. He hoped none of his friends— or Cedric, for that matter— was going to _actually_ consider entering the Tournament. In fact, he was pretty dubious that the Tournament was even a good idea. Why the headmaster of Hogwarts was offering to host it, Aaron had no clue.

 _I guess I'll find out in couple of weeks._


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days passed in a blur. A new teacher, Alastor Moody, was taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, but that was the only notable thing to happen.

Aaron felt his nerves building as the students ran through the corridors counting the days until the Triwizard Tournament. His friends had also caught on to the enthusiasm, and that was the main subjects of their talks every day.

Aaron was less excited. He had a niggling feeling that something bad was going to happen, although he couldn't justify why he felt this way. Cecilia reckoned he was just nervous that Cedric was going to put his name down as a contestant, and Aaron had to grudgingly agree, since there was no other explanation.

On October 30, the two other schools arrived. Beauxbatons Academy of Magic arrived first, from a carriage drawn by massive flying horses. Aaron and Dean were walking from their afternoon classes when they saw it.

The Durmstrang Institute arrived via ship, that rose out of the Black Lake, which Aaron himself missed, but Cecilia claimed to have seen. All of the friends gathered in the Great Hall with the rest of the students and staff, nervously awaiting the arrival of the two new schools.

Durmstrang entered the hall first, looking very menacing. They sat down at the Slytherin table, and Aaron saw Cecilia immediately launch into questions about the school, which a few of the boys obliged to tell her.

The Beauxbatons entered second, seating themselves with the Ravenclaws. Aaron smiled as he caught Gabe staring with his mouth wide open at the girls in blue. Cecilia was also quite obviously gaping at the Beauxbatons.

The feast began, but Aaron wasn't very interested in his food. He was too busy worrying about the Tournament. He'd learned not that long ago that the age limit was seventeen, but he was sure that wasn't going to stop a lot of the students.

When all the students had settled down and the feast was over, Professor Dumbledore formally welcomed the new arrivals and announced the two other judges, which were two men called Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman. The former caught Aaron's eye as he glanced around the room, and Aaron wondered why the man looked so nervous.

"Students who are eligible to compete will put their names on pieces of paper and place them inside the Goblet of Fire," Dumbledore declared, pointing to the Goblet. "The Goblet will then choose the most worthy students, and they will become the three competitors."

A lot of the Gryffindors were elbowing and winking at each other. Aaron rolled his eyes— there was no love lost between the houses of Hogwarts, and he personally found a lot of the Gryffindors overconfident and obnoxious. Then again, a lot of the students were, especially the pureblood families. Cecilia's family alone told her that she couldn't have any Muggle-born friends when she arrived at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore was finishing his speech, so Aaron quickly turned his thoughts back to his headmaster.

"And remember," Dumbledore warned the students, "the Age Line is a powerful spell. Do not try to fool it into thinking you are older than you really are— it's unlikely to work."

The Hogwarts students collectively groaned.

* * *

The next day, Aaron and his friends went to watch the older students place their names in the Goblet— or at least, try to. Fred and George Weasley tried to use an Ageing Potion to bypass the Age Line spell, and for a few moments it worked. Then they were thrown back, and had to be sent to the Hospital Wing to get their newly-grown beards removed. They ran to the Wing in shame, followed by hoards of laughing students.

The next few to put their names in the Goblet were mostly Durmstrang or Beauxbatons pupils. Viktor Krum, the infamous seeker of the Bulgarian Quidditch World Cup team, put his name forth, and Aaron could hear a lot of girls making swooning noises. Aaron himself was just excited that a famous Quidditch player had come to his school.

A few more Hogwarts students put their names forth, then Cedric approached the Goblet.

Aaron's stomach clenched, but he knew there was nothing he could say to the older Hufflepuff without getting teased. Instead, he sat back and prayed to any god that existed that Cedric didn't get chosen. _He can't. He won't._

As more and more pupils tried— and sometimes failed— to put their names in the Goblet, Aaron felt a tap on his shoulder. Cedric stood behind him, looking a little dazed.

"Hemingway. Nice to see you again," the older boy said, nodding at Aaron. Aaron smiled nervously back. "Hey, Cedric. You… uh, you put your name in the Goblet. That's…" his throat closed up and his brain went blank.

Luckily, Gabe was sitting right beside Aaron, and finished his sentence for him. "That's pretty brave of you, Diggory. Even if I were old enough, I probably wouldn't put my name in."

Not for the first time, Aaron silently thanked the Sorting Hat for putting his friend in Ravenclaw.

Cedric rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, no problem. Least I could do to represent my school. You two have a good night."

"Good luck," Aaron called at Cedric's back. As soon as the older boy was out of earshot, Gabe leaned in and punched Aaron in the arm.

" _Ow_! What was that for?"

"Why don't you just tell the poor sod that you're madly in love with him?" Gabe demanded, only half-joking. "I told Isabelle that I liked her."

"And look how well that turned out." Needless to say, 'Isabelle', a girl in the year above in Ravenclaw, had thrown a book at Gabe's head and called him a long list of choice profanities. Then Gabe's owl, Satan, had pecked her so badly she'd had to go to the Hospital Wing. The entire ordeal had occurred last year and was still Cecilia's main source for a funny story.

"Oh, _please_ ," Gabe said, although he'd clearly been taken down a peg by Aaron's reply. "That was one time. You're talking to the best guy in our friend group to talk to about relationships, considering the other two are too caught up in their studies or don't even like boys."

"Gabe, you're not even gay," Aaron said flatly. Gabe seemed to ignore this.

"You've got to get in there, Hemingway, before someone else comes and sweeps poor Diggory off his feet. I saw him checking out Cho Chang the other day during lunch."

"Gabe, I don't think—"

"Shh." Gabe put two fingers over Aaron's lips. "Don't speak. I know just how you feel."

" _Gabriel_ —"

Gabe burst out laughing, startling a group of Gryffindors next to him. "Oh, your _face_! Priceless."

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Did Cecilia put you up to this?"

"Who else?"

" _God_." Aaron got up from his seat. Gabe followed him. "It's not like she's straight either."

"Yeah, but she's actually smart and hasn't told anyone who she likes."

"True."

"Tell you what," Gabe said as the two walked out into the hall and towards their respective common rooms, "I bet that Cedric guy isn't even going to get picked for the Tournament. You can have your eye-candy and everything will be fine. Yeah?"

"Yeah," Aaron muttered, though he disagreed.

"Don't worry, Hemingway. When all of this is over, we'll all go to Hogsmeade over Christmas break for butterbeer and chocolate frogs. You've got more to think about then some boy."

That night, the Great Hall was buzzing with anticipation, and a lot of students arrived early to dinner so they could get the best seats when the Tournament competitors were announced.

Aaron sat down next to Grace, who was trying to finish a Divination assignment. She briefly acknowledged him with a nod, then got back to her parchment.

Aaron spotted Cecilia and Dean across the room, at the Slytherin table. They waved, and Cecilia gave Aaron a thumbs-up.

Dumbledore gave a quick speech about the rules of the Tournament, but none of the students were listening. Their eyes were fixed on the Goblet of Fire, which was spluttering flames.

Aaron held his breath as the first name emerged from the Goblet and fluttered to the floor. Dumbledore lifted it and announced, "Viktor Krum."

The Durmstrang Institute burst into raucous applause, and many also cheered and clapped Viktor on the back. He was grinning— the first time Aaron had seen the older boy do so.

The next name was a girl named Fleur Delacour, from Beauxbatons. Her friends shrieked happily as the girl stood and took her place next to Viktor Krum at the front of the Great Hall.

The last contestant was due to be chosen. Aaron let out his breath, and felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. The Goblet of Fire exploded in a burst of flames, and a name fell into Dumbledore's hand.

"Cedric Diggory."

Aaron's blood ran cold. _No way. This can't be happening._

He stared, expression one of horror, as Cedric took his place next to the other two competitors.

Aaron stood abruptly from his seat, turned, and left the Great Hall. He didn't want his friends to see how upset he was. Professor Sprout tried to stop him, but Aaron pretended he needed to use the loo, and she grudgingly allowed him to leave.

When he reached the Hufflepuff common room, he sunk into one of the chairs by the fire and swallowed, trying to compose himself. Cedric had been chosen over all the other Hogwarts students, which meant he was good enough to compete fairly in the Tournament. Aaron had seen how good the older boy was with spells, too. With a great deal of skill and luck, Cedric would make it to the final round unscathed. Maybe he'd even win the Tournament.

Aaron leaned back in his chair as the other Hufflepuffs began to file in, heading up to their rooms.

"Did you see that? I can't _believe_ that little twat got into the Tournament!" One older girl said to her friend.

"I know!" The other girl replied hotly. "Potter probably bribed some other kid to do it for him."

"I'm sorry, what happened?" Aaron asked, confused. The two girls stopped and stared at him.

"Didn't you see anything in the Hall? Harry Potter was chosen as the fourth contestant. The cheater."

 _Harry Potter?_ The _Harry Potter?_

This week was getting worse and worse.


	3. Chapter 3

It was November, and the first few bouts of snowfall had began.

Aaron was beginning to worry about the exams, although they were over five months away and it wasn't like it was the first time doing them. But at least his fretting kept his mind from deviating to other subjects— namely, the Triwizard Tournament and the first task in which the contestants would be competing in.

Aaron and his friends took special care to stay out of the conflicts going on in between the houses about their fellow classmate, Harry Potter, and declined the many invitations to wear rude badges or yell things down the hallways when the Gryffindor was close by. Aaron didn't see the point in giving the poor guy hell when he already had enough to deal with.

The Slytherins were the worst. They all wore badges that read 'Potter stinks' and other messages that Aaron didn't want to repeat. He even caught Cecilia wearing one. She ducked her head as he met her eyes.

There also wasn't much time to socialise. Cecilia and Dean were away more and more often during their free periods, for Quidditch practises and extra study or, in Cecilia's case, more detention. Gabriel was also engrossed in his work, desperately trying to finish overdue assignments, so Aaron was left to his own devices most days. He rarely saw Cedric in the halls anymore, or even at meals. The entire school seemed to be holding its breath as the date of the first task of the Tournament approached.

* * *

The 22 of November marked the beginning of the first task. Aaron had heard rumours of boggarts, werewolves and even an entire nest of acromantulas, but it turned out that Cedric, Harry, Viktor and Fleur would be facing off a far more deadlier foe: a dragon. Aaron didn't take Care of Magical Creatures, but Gabe did, and his friend's face slowly got paler as they made their way to the stands with Cecilia and Dean.

"Dragons are unpredictable and attack pretty much anything," Gabe was explaining as they found their seats in the stands, "they've been known to be highly aggressive, especially towards wizards. It takes several wizards and witches just to stun _one_ —"

"Gabe," Dean chided, seeing Aaron's expression, "I think you're making it worse. Let's just watch the Tournament, okay?"

Gabe grumbled something about ungrateful Slytherins and sunk down into his seat, fiddling with a loose string on his Ravenclaw scarf.

Cecilia spoke for the first time, leaning over and squeezing Aaron's hand. "It's gonna be fine. Cedric is one of the best wizards in your house. He's sure to have figured out this challenge, and he'll certainly have something prepared. You've got nothing to worry about."

Dean nodded in agreement. "All of the competitors are good at what they do." He corrected himself at Cecilia's raised eyebrow. "Except for maybe Potter."

The four students laughed nervously, earning a few odd stares from those around them. Cecilia leaned back and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. "It's bloody freezing out here."

"Shh," Gabe told her, bouncing excitedly in his seat. "The first contestant is coming out soon."

Aaron still couldn't see the dragon in the arena in front of him, but he was sure it was there, hiding in the shadows. He spotted the golden egg sitting on a pile of rocks in the centre of the arena. It looked so easy to just run in and grab the prize.

"Our first contestant," Dumbledore announced from the stands, "will be Cedric Diggory, from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd erupted into cheers. Even the Slytherins stood up and clapped, to Aaron's surprise. Cedric walked out slowly, and the cheering and clapping died down as the Hufflepuff focused on the golden egg and crept forward, glancing around for his dragon.

Cedric was a few feet away from the egg when an earsplitting screech pierced the air. Aaron grabbed Dean's leg as the dragon roared, lunging towards Cedric.

Dean turned around, a shocked expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, then blinked and turned back around to watch the first task. Aaron felt his cheeks grow hot and he removed his hand.

Cedric was hiding behind a large boulder as the dragon blasted it with flames. He backed up, waved his wand and turned the nearest rock into a Labrador dog. The dragon snorted and began to chase the animal, while Cedric dove for the egg.

As soon as his hands closed around it, the crowd began to cheer again, but the dragon wasn't finished yet. It whirled around, losing interest in the Labrador, and belched fire at Cedric's face.

The Hufflepuff cried out and scrambled back behind the boulder he'd been sheltering under before. A group of wizards rushed out and stunned the dragon before it could do any more damage, and Cedric was quickly taken out of the arena to get first aid.

Aaron's face had gone white, he could feel it. He let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes. It's okay. Madame Pomfrey will look after him. He survived the first task- only two more to go.

Cecilia grinned as Dumbledore checked who the next contestant was. "That was wicked!" she hissed excitedly. "Did you _see_ the way he dodged that fireball? And the dragon was bloody _awesome_. I'm going to find a dragon when I graduate. Maybe I can even _ride_ one—"

"Every wizard and witch who has tried to tame a dragon has failed," Gabe reminded her, wagging a finger. Cecilia stuck her tongue out at him.

"A girl can dream, Yaxley."

Aaron smiled as his friends bickered. They were trying to make him feel better, he knew— and it was working. Already, some of his pent-up nerves were diffusing, and he felt himself relax.

Dean was still looking at him oddly, however. Aaron looked away, embarrassed. He'd just been surprised, is all. He didn't actually like him...

Aaron banished the thought and tried to enjoy the rest of the task. Harry Potter came on last, and received a warm welcome of boos and catcalls. Aaron felt a little bad for the guy, even if he had cheated like everyone was saying.

Harry managed to complete the task, to the dismay of the crowd. He'd used his broomstick to get the egg, which Aaron supposed was fair. As long as Potter completed the tasks like everyone else, Aaron would try not to judge him for 'cheating' at the start.

The crowd began to disband, the vast majority of Hogwarts students rushing towards Cedric, Aaron and his gang included.

The older Hufflepuff had a nasty burn on the side of his face, which Madame Pomfrey was fussing over. However, Cedric didn't look too upset— he even raised the egg high above the crowd, earning roars of approval.

When Aaron managed to push his way to the front of the crowd, Cedric grinned and pointed to the egg.

"Only two more tasks to go. Wonder what this is going to do."

Aaron shrugged. "Dunno. You did great out there, though. Nice transfiguration."

Cedric laughed, then winced. "Thanks, Hemingway. Listen, can you do me a favour?"

"Sure."

"Can you try and get less of the students to wear those badges? Especially our house, but if you can convince the others, too, I'd be grateful."

Aaron nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Potter did pretty well today."

Cedric nodded back. "Hey, you'd better go. They've arrived."

Aaron was pushed to the side by a group of squealing Hogwarts girls. He backed away, not wanting to get between them and Cedric.

Gabe was waiting for him at the edge of the crowd. He put his arm around Aaron's shoulder and steered him towards the Hogwarts castle.

"C'mon, it's getting late. You can pine over your crush at dinner."

* * *

The Great Hall was full of shouts and screams and laughter as the contestants were greeted by their schools. Viktor Krum and the Durmstrang boys were pumping their fists and clapping each other on the back; Fleur and the Beauxbatons were squealing excitedly and hugging each other; the Hogwarts students lifted Cedric up onto their shoulders and even high-fived Harry a few times.

Aaron grinned as Cedric finally sat down at the Hufflepuff table— right next to him.

"How are you holding up?" The older boy asked him. Aaron shrugged.

"I could ask the same. I'm not the one competing in the Triwizard Tournament."

Cedric chuckled. "I noticed you trying to get less people to wear those badges. Thanks."

"It was nothing. L-least I could do for one of the Hogwarts champions," Aaron stammered, piling his plate with food and taking a sip from his goblet.

Cedric opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Grace, who came to sit down on the other side of Aaron. He'd almost forgotten about the workaholic Hufflepuff girl. Cedric nodded at Grace, and stood up to write autographs and talk to a few of his friends.

"Hey, Aaron," Grace smiled. Aaron smiled, but it was slightly forced. Grace raised an eyebrow.

"Do you… do you _like_ Cedric?"

Aaron looked away. He hated being so awkward around people that weren't his friends.

Grace tutted and patted his back. "Hey, don't be like that. The Yule Ball is coming up at Christmas. Maybe you can ask him to go with you, as friends or something."

Aaron didn't say anything, instead picking at his food. Grace sighed. "Look, I don't know how these things work. If you don't want to go with him, go with your friends or whatever. I'm sure you'll have fun either way. The Yule is supposed to be the highlight of this year. Try to enjoy it, okay?"

Aaron muttered a reply. He didn't feel like talking. He knew Cedric was not interested in him, and would most likely ask out that Cho girl Grace was talking about a couple months ago. Maybe he could just go with Cecilia or something. They could hang out as friends.

Aaron's thoughts went to that morning, with Dean. He hoped his friend had forgotten about their awkward moment in the stands.

He could always go with Dean. That wouldn't be too bad, would it?

Aaron pushed away his plate, and stood from his seat at the Hufflepuff table. _No._ He was going to go to the Yule Ball by himself, and he was going to _enjoy_ it. End of story.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabe hadn't been kidding when he'd told Aaron they would be going for butterbeer over Christmas. They all sat inside the Three Broomsticks, huddled around the fire with their Hogwarts scarves wrapped tightly around their necks.

For once, they were all out of uniform, and Cecilia was trying to start a conversation with a couple of girls in Ravenclaw in the year above her. Dean, Gabe and Aaron were debating whether a log was technically a stick, of all things.

"I'm telling you," Gabe insisted, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "A log is the _base_ of the tree, so it's not a stick, because that's an extension of the tree."

"But what about branches?" Aaron argued. "They're the halfway point, so when does a branch become a stick? Is there a specific size that the branch needs to be?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Guys," he told them, "can we agree that anything that's not a log is automatically a stick? You both sound like idiots."

"I'm a Ravenclaw," Gabe shot back. "It's physically impossible for me to be stupid."

Dean pointed to the window. "Hey, Gabe, it's your owl!"

"Where?" Gabe looked around, and Dean cackled, surprising the rest of the group.

"Nowhere, you twat. See, you are an idiot."

"Says the one in Slytherin," Dean's cousin grumbled, pride wounded. Aaron laughed and took a sip of his butterbeer.

Cecilia stood up and announced, "I'm going to Honeydukes. Anyone else game?"

The three boys stood up with her and followed her out of the Three Broomsticks. They ran along the path, stopping to throw snowballs at each other or to adjust their jackets.

As Aaron ducked under a flying snowball, he thought to himself, _this is what I should be doing— not worrying about things I can't control and boys I can't have. Why is it so difficult?_

Cecilia and Gabe had vanished inside Honeydukes, but Dean had waited outside for some reason. Aaron walked up to him and pointed to the door. "Shouldn't we go in?"

Dean shrugged. "In a second. I was wondering if you had a date sorted for the Yule Ball."

Aaron shook his head. "Nah, I was just going to go by myself. Do you have someone in mind?"

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, no. No, I was going by myself, too. C'mon, let's get some food."

* * *

The Yule Ball was tonight. Aaron gulped as he pulled on his shirt and tied his tie. He was a little self-conscious about his clothes, but he consoled himself with the fact that all the boys would be wearing dress robes. His mother had sent him his robes as an early Christmas present, along with a few galleons and some deodorant, the last of which the rest of Hufflepuff found hilarious.

The other boys in his dormitory were still changing out of their normal clothes, and Aaron bade them good luck before leaving the Hufflepuff common room.

He saw Gabe and Dean heading up the staircase from the Slytherin common room, and waved at them. Cecilia followed, a pretty Beauxbatons girl in tow.

"This is Jacqueline," Cecilia explained to the group. They all smiled and said hello to the new arrival.

Gabe kept petting something on his shoulder. Aaron looked around and saw that Gabe's owl, Satan, sat there. The poor creature had a tiny bow tie around its neck.

"My date is Satan," Gabe announced, proudly stroking Satan's head. The bird screeched and bit his finger. Gabe cursed, and the bird flew away.

"Nice dress robes," Dean said, pointing to Aaron. His mum had remembered that Aaron's favourite colour was blue, and Aaron's robes were the colour of the sky. Dean himself wore expensive-looking, dark robes, and Gabe was dressed similarly. Cecilia and her date both wore pastel colours, and had makeup to match.

"Thanks," Aaron replied. "Yours aren't too bad either."

"Let's get going. I don't want to be late," Jacqueline told them, dragging a grinning Cecilia down the corridor to the Great Hall. The three boys followed, the sounds of music in the Hall slowly increasing in volume.

The Great Hall was decorated beautifully, with icicles dangling from the ceiling and snowflakes slowly falling through the air. A massive Christmas tree stood at the back of the Hall, and even this early the place was packed with people.

Aaron saw Cedric with Cho Chang, and his heart sank. Grace had warned him about Cho a few months ago, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Aaron should have asked him. Maybe then he would have—

"Aaron?" Dean was standing next to him, eyebrows raised. "You all good?"

"Yeah. I just zoned out for a second," Aaron lied, looking away from Cedric and focusing on Dean. The pale blue lights on the ceiling danced in his friend's eyes, and his lips curved up ever so slightly in a half-smile. He noticed how Dean's jawbone was accentuated by the sharp shadows on his face, and suddenly how attractive Dean looked.

Aaron blinked. Wait. This wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't seriously like…

The music had begun properly, and Dean was asked to dance by a giggling Hufflepuff girl. He held Aaron's gaze as he spun around with the girl, robes swirling around him. Aaron stood there, letting himself be pushed out of the way by other dancers. He was sure the expression on his face was one of shock, confusion, indignation.

Did Dean like him? Was Aaron just being paranoid? Did that mean he was over Cedric?

Aaron snorted. He could safely say that the last question was a solid _no_. The other two… Well, they were considerably harder.

Aaron found a seat and watched Cedric and Dean dancing, happy to be alone with his thoughts.

* * *

It was two hours into the Yule Ball when Gabe and Cecilia sat down beside Aaron, both exhausted from dancing.

"What's up with you and Dean?" Cecilia asked, pointing to the Slytherin, who was talking with a group of boys from his house.

Aaron shrugged helplessly. "I… I don't know. I don't know if I like him, or if I like Cedric, or whether any of this is actually _important_ , or if I'm just—"

"Hey." Gabe grabbed his shoulders. "You just gotta go for it, man. My cousin is too chicken to make any moves himself. Don't think about it— just do it."

Cecilia agreed. "Sometimes you can't overthink it. If you do, you'll be single forever."

Aaron nodded, but he was still confused. "Are you saying that I go up to him and... what?"

Gabe laughed. "I don't have the foggiest, but whatever happens will happen. Go, Aaron. _Go_ ," he repeated, pushing his friend towards Dean.

Aaron stumbled towards his friend. Dean saw him coming over and he said his goodbyes to his group, before meeting Aaron in the middle of the Great Hall, in between dancers.

"The music is good," Aaron began awkwardly. Dean shifted, clearly uncomfortable.

"Yeah. It is."

"Um…" Aaron searched for something to say. He remembered Cecilia's warning: don't overthink it. And he blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Do you like me?"

Dean blanched, and Aaron immediately felt guilty.

"Look, I'm sorry, it just slipped out—"

Dean rolled his eyes. " _God_ , Aaron."

"What?"

"You're _such_ an idiot."

And suddenly Dean was right in front of Aaron, and he took his face in his hands and their lips met, crushing together rather unceremoniously. Aaron had imagined many scenarios in which he would kiss another boy, but this was not one of them. Rather, this was a new experience entirely.

Aaron knew a few people were staring, but he didn't care. In that moment, it was just him and Dean and their heartbeats and their arms around each other and a hundred other wonderful things.

Although the initial kiss had been awkward and uncoordinated, their lips seemed to slot into place after a few seconds and gradually Aaron felt more comfortable being so close to Dean.

Eventually, he pulled away and they both stepped back. Dean's face was flushed.

"Sorry," he mumbled. Aaron laughed.

"Don't apologize. That was…"

"Messy?" Dean asked, a hint of humour in his voice.

Aaron grinned. "Well, yes. You're a rubbish kisser, Yaxley."

"Shut up." Dean punched his arm lightly. "At least I started it. You were standing there with your mouth open like a bloody fish."

"Well, _you_ couldn't keep your hands to yourself."

Dean held up his hands. "Whatever. I need to actually get some sleep so I don't accidentally process what just happened and spontaneously combust."

"You're such a moron."

Dean rolled his eyes again. "Don't start the whole 'holier than thou' gig again, Hemingway."

Aaron chuckled and moved to take Dean's hand. The other boy pulled away, properly smiling for the first time that night.

"No homo, right?"

"...Piss off, Dean."


End file.
